14 - Was Jewish Statehood Endorsed by the League of Nations?

Summary

A reason given by the United Nations for recommending a partition of Palestine was that Jewish statehood had been endorsed by the League of Nations. The rationale was that the League of Nations had endorsed the commitment by Britain to promote a Jewish national home, and that Jewish national home meant a Jewish state. Britain wrote up a document for its governance of Palestine that included the fostering of a Jewish national home. Britain sought approval from the Council of the League of Nations for that document. The Council did approve the document. Britain took that approval as an endorsement of a Jewish national home. The Council, however, was not given an opportunity to influence the content of the document. As a result, the commitment for a Jewish national home was that of Britain alone. Britain denied that Jewish national home meant a Jewish state. The Palestine Mandate recited that the Balfour Declaration was endorsed by Britain’s allies, but the Allies did not do so.